


hey baby (i think i want to marry you)

by vincerets



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: Double proposal, Engagement, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:22:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22979812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vincerets/pseuds/vincerets
Summary: callum wants to propose to ben. ben has the same idea. it doesn’t exactly go to plan.
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Comments: 8
Kudos: 141





	hey baby (i think i want to marry you)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [benmitchells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/benmitchells/gifts).



“I don’t know, Lo. Are you sure I picked the right one? What if he doesn’t like it?”

Lola sighs, nudging her shoulder against Callum’s in what she hopes is a reassuring way. “Would you relax a little? You’ve been sending me pictures of engagement rings for the past three weeks. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every ring in this store by now.”

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Callum insists, drumming his fingers impatiently against the glass display cabinet. “I just want it all to be perfect. He deserves that much.” 

“Hang on, didn’t you propose to Whitney with that god-awful ring? Whatever you get Ben can’t be any worse than that.” She’s teasing, Callum knows, and it does help with a little of the anxiety coursing through his veins.

“Thank you for coming with me, Lo. I think I’d be a nervous wreck if I was here on my own,” he says, fishing his wallet out of his pocket when the sales assistant heads back his way.

“As if I would have let you come on your own.” She watches Callum hand over his card to pay for the ring and beams at him when he gets handed a small black bag. “Come on, let’s see it then!”

Callum can’t help the way he grins, Lola’s excitement oddly infectious. He reaches into the bag and pulls out the small velvet box before popping it open with his thumb. The ring is simple, solid silver with a thin gold line running throughout the centre.

“It’s stunning,” Lola says, letting the box close with a gentle click. “He’ll love it, Callum, honestly.” There’s silence between them for a second, and she can tell Callum’s doubting himself again, so she decides to change the subject quickly. “So… have you given any thought to how you’re going to do it yet?”

“I don’t know yet. I want it to be special, you know? Ben deserves something special. But I don’t want it to feel like someone else’s proposal. I want it to feel like us.” Callum slides the box carefully back into the bag and hooks the handles over his wrist. “If it’s taken a month for me to decide on a ring, who knows how long it’ll take for me to decide how to actually do it.”

Lola nudges him, a little less gently than before. “Oi. You love him, right?” She doesn’t need the confirmation, but she waits for the nod anyway. “Then that’s all that matters. Ben’s head over heels for you, and I know you feel the same about him. So, stop panicking, alright? These things have a way of working themselves out.”

Callum can’t help the smile that tugs on the corners of his lips at her words. “Yeah, you’re right. Knowing my luck, though, Ben will end up finding the ring before I even have a chance to plan a proposal.”

“Well you better think of something quick then,” Lola teases, hooking her arm through Callum’s. “Now, I believe I was promised lunch. And after dropping a fair few quid on that ring, I’m sure you can afford somewhere nice.”

“It’s almost like you see me as a walking bank account.” Callum brings his hand up to his heart in mock-hurt and turns his head towards Lola with a pout. “I’m hurt. Really, I am.”

They’re both laughing as they head towards the exit, wrapped up in the warmth of the moment. Callum doesn’t notice someone in his path until he’s collided with them and is getting an earful in return.

“You know, it’s really not that hard to watch where you’re walking mate-” a familiar voice is saying, and it sends Callum’s heart racing in his chest. He knows that voice. He’s in love with that voice.

“Ben?” Callum asks, disbelieving. “What are you doing here?”

The sound of Callum’s voice has Ben snapping his head up. “What am I doing here? What are you doing here?”

“I asked you first!”

“I asked you first, really Callum? Are we twelve?” Ben huffs.

Callum panics, grappling desperately for some sort of excuse that would seem feasible. “I’m… here with Lola. She wants a ring... for Jay.”

“She wants a ring for who now?” He hears Jay ask, appearing next to Ben’s side like he had been waiting for his name to be mentioned. Callum wonders if he should have spent his money on a shovel instead, so he can dig himself out of the hole he keeps making deeper.

“I don’t-” he hears Lola saying, and then she’s smacking his arm lightly and glaring at him. Fix this! she’s saying, and Callum wishes he knew how.

Ben eyes them suspiciously, gaze finally settling on the bag that’s resting on Callum’s wrist. “What’s in that bag?” he’s asking before he can stop himself. 

“Bag? What bag? I don’t have a bag!” Callum wrenches the bag behind his back, but the damage is already done now; he can see the realisation dawning on Ben’s face.

“No!” Ben’s snapping at him, arms folded stubbornly across his chest. “No, you don’t get to do this one. I’m the one who’s supposed to do this one!”

“What are you talking about? What are you supposed to do?” It takes a second, but when Callum remembers where they are and what Ben’s words mean, the realisation hits him like a ton of bricks. “Oh, absolutely not! I’m the one who gets to do this, I was here first!”

“You were the one who asked me out first, I’m the one who gets to do this!” Ben’s countering, vaguely aware of Lola and Jay backing away from them and inching closer to each other.

“You were the one who left your whole family and made a stupidly romantic gesture in the middle of the market when we got back together, it’s my turn to make a stupidly romantic gesture!” Callum’s aware of the looks being thrown their way, and he’s certain that if they keep it up, they’ll both be asked to leave. “Besides! I’m the one with the ring!”

“No, that’s not fair! Wait here.” And then Ben’s off.

Callum watches him walk up to the counter he was standing at a few minutes ago, eyebrows knitting in confusion. He looks to Jay and Lola for some kind of explanation, but they both just shrug at him. Jay has a knowing look in his eyes, though, and he glares at him for a second before Ben’s returning and standing in front of him again.

“Now I’m the one with the ring!” Ben says, a velvet box similar to the one Callum’s been carrying in his bag clutched tightly in his hand. “I’ve been waiting for this for almost a month now, got it engraved and everything, so I’m the one who should do this!”

Callum’s silent for a second, his eyes flitting between the box and Ben’s face. “You got it engraved?” he asks, voice coming out much softer than he’d meant it to. He doesn’t know why, but the thought that Ben would spend extra time picking out the perfect engraving makes his heart beat faster.

“Of course I did! Look.” Ben pops the lid open with his thumb and pulls out the ring so Callum can see. It’s a small, simple engraving, but ever since he’d first thought of proposing he knew exactly what he’d wanted on the ring. “I know I don’t say it enough. At least this way you’ll always know, even if I don’t say it.”

Callum almost tears up when he catches sight of the engraving. I love you, it says.

“Ben…” he trails off, words getting caught in his throat.

“I know, I know. You’re going to tell me that I don’t have to say it because you already know. But you deserve to hear it.” Ben draws in a breath and takes the ring back. “And I suppose now is as good a time as any, and we’ve never exactly been traditional-” that makes Callum laugh; it’s a sound Ben wants to hear forever, “-so I hadn’t planned on getting on one knee or taking you to some fancy restaurant to sweep you off your feet. I just wanted to do something to show you that I love you, that I’m in love with you, that I always will be in love with you.”

Half the store is staring now, and Callum’s sure Lola has her phone out to record them, but he can’t be sure because his eyes are filled with tears and his heart is so full of love.

“So, Callum Highway. Will you marry me?”

“Yes! God, Ben, you know I will but-” Callum pauses and grabs his own box from the bag. He fumbles with it for a few seconds before he manages to get the lid open and turns it to face Ben. “But only if you’ll marry me too.”

Callum doesn’t expect it when Ben surges towards him to crush their lips together in a searing kiss, and he has to throw an arm out against the wall to steady himself so that they don’t go crashing to the floor together. But Ben’s smiling against his lips and he can’t find it in himself to care.

“Was that a yes?” Callum asks when they pull apart breathless.

“Of course it was a yes you idiot.” Ben says as he reaches down and takes Callum’s left hand in his own. He waits until Callum nods at him before sliding the ring on his finger.

There’s a scattering of confused applause from some of the other people in the store, but neither of them are paying any attention to it.

“Obviously I don’t expect you to wear it-” Callum’s saying as he pulls the ring from the box to let Ben see it. “I’m not trying to replace Paul; I know how important he was to you and it’s not like I’m trying to cover it with a ring of my own. But I-”

“Callum.” Ben cuts him off, and Callum’s grateful for it; they both know he has a tendency to babble when he’s nervous. He makes a show of sliding the ring off his finger before his attention is on his fiancé again. “Shut up and put the ring on my finger.” 

Callum lets out a breathy laugh and slides the ring onto Ben’s finger with shaking hands and then they’re kissing again like they’re the only two people in the room.

They only pull away when they hear someone clearing their throat next to them, and then both Jay and Lola are pulling them into hugs and giving them their congratulations.

“You know,” Lola starts when she steps back from her hug with Callum. “When I said these things have a way of working themselves out, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

-

They’re in the Vic later, mostly because of Kathy’s persistence. Both Ben and Callum had insisted that hadn’t wanted any fuss, but she wasn’t hearing any of it and had insisted that she wanted to officially welcome her soon-to-be son-in-law to the family and, well, neither of them had the heart to say no.

They’d been offered their congratulations by people they hadn’t even manged to tell yet and had been handed several glasses of champagne that neither of them had had to pay for. They hadn’t left each other’s side through all of it, their hands laced together down by their sides.

Callum almost ends up with a glass of champagne down his shirt when he goes to take a sip and is startled by Mick ringing the pubs bell. Ben teases him and wipes his mouth with his thumb to catch the stray champagne, then replaces it a second later with his lips.

“To Ben and Callum,” they hear Mick shout, which is promptly echoed by everybody in the pub as they raise their glasses in a toast.

“So, come on then-” Mick’s saying, leaning on the bar in front of the booth they’re sitting on and gesturing between them. “How’d it happen then? Who popped the question?”

Callum looks over to find Ben already staring at him, and they share a small, private smile. They both know Lola has that video, and if the way she’s fishing around in her bag is anything to go by, the entire pub will have seen it by the end of the night.

“Well.” Callum squeezes Ben’s hand, thumb brushing across the back of the engagement ring that sits on his finger. “It’s kind of a funny story, that.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is for lauren because she deserves it and OWNS my heart


End file.
